A Simple Misunderstanding
by ZazzyZy
Summary: Liam didn't know how he had got in this position – only that he was in deep trouble with Hayden. But what could he have done that was so bad she would tie him to the flagpole in his underwear – and in front of the whole school, no less? At least Liam has the pack to help him unravel the mystery – in the least helpful way possible, of course. Established Layden.


**This is set after season 5, in which Liam and Hayden are dating and no supernatural threat is troubling Beacon Hills at present. I've added in a slight back story for Hayden, as I don't know hers yet. If you are reading this after that is revealed, sorry. I got the broad idea for this story from an episode of Gossip Girl. I owe neither GG nor TW, though.**

Liam stood shivering in the brisk morning air, mentally berating himself again for getting in this position. Already people were beginning to arrive for school, whispering but making no move to help him. He could feel his irritation rising, but forced it back. After all, the pack would surely be here soon to help him – and he was the one tied to the flag post in his underwear, after all. The situation certainly gave reason to gossip.

Liam heaved a great sigh for the millionth time, and wiggled fruitlessly against the tight ropes. He had no idea how _she_ had achieved it – one moment they'd been talking, kissing – the next, he was in a tight hug with the flag pole, his hands tied together on the other side of the pole to hold him in that position, and stripped down to only his stripy navy and white boxers. He blushed as he heard giggling behind him. More people were arriving now, and he was definitely beginning to regret his choice of underwear.

Luckily he did not have to wait long, as no sooner had this thought crossed his mind then he heard a familiar drawling voice behind him.

"Well, well – did you have fun last night, Liam?"

"Lydia!" Liam cried in relief. "Thank god you're here! You have to –"

"So how did this little situation come about?" Lydia interrupted, her face settled into her usual semi-bored, semi-amused expression. She made no move to help him, and even leant against the low wall beside the flag post.

Liam stared at her, incredulous. "That's not important!" he exclaimed. "You gotta untie me before a teacher gets here, or –"

"Or Hayden? I'm sure you'd hate for her to see that you were unable to free yourself, right?"

Liam baulked. "How did you…?" a thought occurred to him, arriving sluggishly. He had been standing there for at least five hours, in his defense. "She texted you."

"Yep," replied Lydia, inspecting her fingernails disinterestedly. "Said not to untie you, as you had irritated her."

"Right," said Liam, "Did she say why?"

"No – if she had, do you think I'd be here to ask how you warranted this?" She looked up, focusing on his face. "Why – do _you_ not know what you did?"

"No," moaned Liam, resting his head against the cool pole. He was beginning to feel a little warm. "One moment we were fine, just talking, and the next I'm like this. Can you just untie me so I can-"

"What the hell happened here?"

Stiles strolled calmly into Liam's line of vision, not looking particularly shocked by his predicament. He leant on the low wall next to Lydia, making no move to help Liam either. Liam groaned.

"Did Hayden text you, too?"

"Yep," said Stiles cheerfully. "She is definitely a fiery one. I'll be sure to give her a high-five next time I see her."

"What did I do, though?" Liam wailed. He could feel himself slipping – he could barely hold himself up; he was so tired. Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Don't be dramatic. How do you not know, anyway? It must have been pretty bad."

"I can't think of anything! We'd just gone out on a date to the movies, and we were walking home past the school, and–"

"Did you say something about her weight?" Lydia interrupted. Liam could tell she was pretending to not care, but she was truly interested in the drama. Of her popular girl disposition he was thankful, however, as it meant she would be determined to unravel this mystery in order to hear the gossip first.

"No!" replied Liam. He would never – she was gorgeous, what could he possibly say?

"Did you look at other girls in front of her?"

"No, I didn't!" He'd already made that mistake once – accidently of course, but it wouldn't happen again.

Lydia pressed on. "Did you cancel on plans? Bring up an old fight? Were you not listening while she was talking?"

"No, I didn't do any of those things. Look, I'm not going to figure out what I did just standing here. Can you just untie me so I can find her and –"

"Oh, so _this_ is what the message was about. What did you do this time?"

Liam resisted the violent urge to bang his head as hard as he could against the pole as Mason joined the group seated on the low wall, greeting them cheerfully. If another person interrupted him and made him explain what happened _again,_ he would explode. Trying to focus on something apart from his mounting frustration, he looked at Mason.

"What message?"

"Well," said Mason, pulling out his phone to read the offending message. "I got this incredibly cryptic message this morning - which now I think about it, I should have known it was about you. It says 'do not untie your stupid asshole friend or I will personally end you'." He looked up from phone, a slight smile playing on his lips. "Did you and Hayden have a fight?"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Liam nearly screamed, his head throbbing. "I don't know what I said! Can you please just –"

"Hey guys. Hey Liam. That's a weird position you're in. Are you into that sort of thing?"

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

Liam whacked his head against the pole as Malia welcomed the group, giving Stiles a light kiss on the lips last and seating herself in his lap. Looking up inquisitively, she began to open her mouth to speak, but Liam was on the edge of his tether and quickly interrupted her.

"No, I don't know what I did to Hayden. No, I can't think of anything I did. Now can _you please free me?_ Or did you _also_ receive a text instructing you not to?"

"Yes," said Malia, now looking amused. "but I don't think it was necessary to send us texts anyway. Can't you just use your claws to free yourself?"

The pack turned to face Liam expectantly, clearly interested in his reaction to this revelation. He, however, looked more aggravated than ever.

"No, I can't. Hayden must know some supernatural Scout shit because the ropes are pressing on the muscles in my arms and I _can't – seem – to force – my – claws – to – come out!"_ Grunting each word out, he twisted and strained his arms this way and that to emphasis he couldn't do it. The pack nodded, fascinated by this development. Liam, however, was approaching breaking point.

"Guys, I am _almost completely naked_. School is starting in _twenty minutes_ and I am currently TIED TO A POLE IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. I don't know what I did but IF SOMEONE COULD PLEASE LET ME GO I WILL FIND OUT AND IMMEDIATELY LET YOU ALL KNOW!"

"Whoa, man. Calm down. I'll let you free."

"Oh thank god," gasped Liam as Scott and Kira approached the group, holding hands. Kira dropped Scott's hand and greeted the rest of the pack as Scott moved towards Liam, immediately reaching for the knot. Liam leaned his head against the cool pole as Scott began to work on the tight bond.

"Thanks Scott. I am literally going to kill everyone else as soon as I'm free. They wouldn't let me go because of some stupid text Hayden sent them."

"Yeah, Kira and I got that text this morning. Apparently you are a 'prick' and you need to 'suffer the consequences of your actions'." Scott looked at Liam. "What did you do?"

"I don't know," said Liam, anger suddenly draining away and leaving him feeling bone tired. "I can't think of anything."

"Well you must have done something," reasoned Scott, fingers still struggling with the firm knot. "what were you guys talking about before –" he gestured to the flag-pole vaguely. "- this all happened?"

"We were –" Liam began, before stopping abruptly. He remembered now – they had been having quite a serious conversation.

Liam blushed deeply. "I – I can't remember," he stammered. "I'm sure it wasn't important."

" _Okayyyy_ then, oh modest one," Stiles interjected. "Change of subject. Why didn't you just call Scott? You could have ended this whole predicament hours ago."

"Do you _see_ somewhere I can get a phone?" replied Liam irritably, rolling his eyes.

"Nah, you could have called me," said Scott absentmindedly, finally giving up on the ropes. "You could have howled – I would have heard it, you are my Beta after all."

Turning away from a completely dumbstruck Liam and to his loudly snorting pack, Scott gestured for Kira. "Can I borrow your belt please? This knot is absolutely unbelievable."

Kira stood up and, attempting to fight a smile from her face at the expression on Liam's, she pulled her belt – katana from around her waist and handed it to Scott. Discretely, Scott returned to the rope and in one strong, clean motion he sliced the ropes off Liam's wrists. Liam, still slightly dazed from his stupidity at not simply calling Scott, staggered back at the sudden lack of the binds. Scott caught his arm.

"You all right?" he asked, looking carefully at his Beta's face. Though this whole saga had been mainly amusing, he was slightly worried about the young man he felt was in his care. "Here," he said, shrugging off his big jacket. "Take this."

Liam took it gratefully, shoving his arms in the sleeves and zipping it up over his naked chest. It was nice and warm – Scott had been wearing it seconds earlier, after all.

"Thanks," he said, clapping Scott on the shoulder with a considerably numb arm. His wrists had slight welts on them, he noticed. Pushing this thought away, he leaned around Scott to look at the still giggling pack. " _No_ thanks to you lot," he added with little feeling. He wasn't that mad; if it had been anyone else he was sure he would have sat and watched too. He could see that, now he was no longer bound to a pole in front of the entire school – who, speaking of which, had formed quite a crowd to watch the drama unfold. Trying to ignore his embarrassment, he turned back to Scott.

"Well, I think I'm just going to head home. I don't think I'll get anything done today while dealing with crippling humiliation, anyway."

A smile quirked the edge of Scott's mouth, and he nodded. Giving Liam a reassuring pat on the shoulder, he turned back to the pack. Already they had begun to gather their things, waving goodbye to him. He gave them the finger. But as Liam turned to make his way through the now diminishing crowd, resolving to go home and straight to bed, and to deal with this tomorrow, he heard a voice call after him.

"Hey – Liam!"

Mason had jogged over. Liam folded his arms – he had forgiven him, but he might make him suffer a little first before letting him know that. Mason, however, ignored Liam's body language.

"Wanna figure out what you did wrong?" Liam nodded, a little confused. "Good. 'Cause Hayden's over there."

Liam whipped around quickly; just in time to see Hayden's form retreating into the school. Of course – she was heading to her first class, gym. Liam spun back around, suddenly energized and wide-awake.

"Thanks Mason! I gotta go!"

Mason waved as Liam turned and sprinted after Hayden. He was determined to sort this out – but if it was about _that_ , he might just die of mortification…

"Hey – Hayden!" he called as he approached her, though expecting her to run away. He was not prepared, however, for the venomous look she gave him as he turned.

 _"_ _What?"_ she hissed, voice full of fury.

Liam stopped dead in his tracks, a few paces from her. The halls were almost completely deserted, save a few stragglers too interested in getting to their class on time to notice the feuding couple. Luckily, they were far from most of the classrooms, so they were not going to be disturbed. Liam tried again.

"Hayden, I –"

"No," she said fumingly. "I do _not_ want to talk to a _liar_ like you! So either you _fuck off_ now or I will WELD YOU TO THE NEXT OBJECT!"

Spinning on her heel, she turned to storm off again, but Liam quickly seized her arm.

"Wait!" he cried. "What do you mean – I lied?" He was completely perplexed – was it not about what he thought it was?

"You know what you did," she replied venomously. "You must think I am so stupid – but do you honestly think I don't hear your heart beating faster when you lie?" she looked at him bitterly. "Asshole."

Liam thought back to last night, desperately trying to remember when his heart had been beating faster or if he had lied. Suddenly, he remembered – it _had_ been when they were having that conversation, right before it happened…

 _Hayden laughed, squeezing Liam's hand and resting her head on his shoulder. They were walking past the school, having just gone on an amazing date to the movies. Liam knew how much she loved trashy dance movies, and had consented to sit through almost two hours of Magic Mike XXL. Actually, he hadn't minded it, but that was beside the point. He zoned back in to hear Hayden talking._

 _"_ _Hey, is that where Scott said that secret vault was?"_

 _Liam looked up, then changed their path, leading her over to the low wall near the flagpole. "I think it's around here." He looked up mischievously. "Why – do you want to try and rob the great Hale family? History has shown that doesn't go very well."_

 _She rolled her eyes, sitting down on the low wall. "No, of course not," she said. "But don't you think it's amazing? How much cool secret stuff is around here?" she looked at Liam through her lashes shyly. "Speaking of…"_

 _Interesting segue, Liam thought, but took a seat beside Hayden regardless. "What's up?" he asked, taking one of her hands instinctively. They had said 'I love you' to each other months ago, but she almost seemed more nervous right now. Even as she fretted, playing with his hand, Liam couldn't help but noticed how beautiful she was. She seemed so anxious, so he squeezed her hand reassuringly. She looked up and smiled, then took a deep breath._

 _"_ _I've just been wondering something for a while and, uh – well, I wasn't sure how to ask you. But I think I feel safe enough with you to ask now." She took another deep breath, and with pink beginning to colour her cheeks, stated quickly,_

 _"_ _Liam, I am still a virgin. Are you?"_

 _Liam was completely dumbstruck. He honestly had not seen that one coming. Trying to seize a coherent thought in the mess swirling around his brain, it occurred to him that this was perhaps another segue to…something. His heart began to beat quickly and he felt blood rush…south. Desperately trying to control himself, he stuttered out, "uh, yes, I am. Are you? Oh, wait, we've already done that…" he began to laugh nervously. Hayden's eyes clouded over, and Liam thought for a moment she almost looked – angry? But then the moment passed, and she smiled abruptly and brightly. Pulling Liam to his feet, she leaned in close to him._

 _"_ _Good," she whispered._

 _His heart began to beat even harder as she pressed her lips to his. Sinking into the kiss very quickly, he barely felt himself slowly being pushed backwards until he felt his back press against the pole. Still, he ignored this, his eyes closed as the kiss deepened and their hands roaming – everywhere. And it was because of this that he barely even registered the blow when his head smashed against the pole behind him, and he blacked out._

 _When he opened his eyes, he was leaning slackly against the pole, suddenly very aware of the cold night air. Looking down, he realized it was because he was only wearing his boxers. Looking up frantically, he just saw Hayden's figure retreating to his right._

 _"_ _Hey!" he cried. "Wait – what did I do?"_

 _She turned around, a look of rage upon her face._

 _"_ _Fuck you."_

 _And with that she turned and continued walking, with Liam shouting after her long after he lost her from his sight._

Liam stared at Hayden, who was looking at his contemptuously. _She thinks I lied about being a virgin,_ he realized, and almost laughed aloud at the revelation. _And here I was, thinking she just didn't want anything to do with someone who didn't know what they were doing…_

"Oh, so you remember now?" She shook her head. "I can't believe _you_ would lie to me, of all people. You know," her eyes began to well with tears, and her voice shook. "You _know_ I hate liars."

"But I didn't lie," Liam pleaded, finally grasping the seriousness of the situation. "Please, hear me out."

She shook her head, tears beginning to lightly fall. "You know how much my dad lied," she whispered. "You _know_ how him doing that hurt me, and now it turns out you're exactly the same."

"Please, Hayden, listen to me," Liam said. Quickly, he grabbed her hand and placed it on his heart. "Listen," he said, looking into her eyes. "I didn't lie."

His heart did not falter, quicken or slow. She looked at him, unsure.

"Then – what –"

Liam shook his head, embarrassment beginning to mount again. "Well," he said haltingly. "When you brought up – the – you know – I thought you were hinting – um – that you wanted to – you know – like, _right there?"_

Hayden stared at him, incomprehension plain upon her face. Liam steeled his nerves and tried again.

"It's just that – when you brought up – uh –" he cringed at using the word so crudely "- _virginities_ – well, I thought you might be hinting –"

He took a deep breath, his face now steadily becoming a deep, tomato red, and blurted out, "I thought you might be suggesting you wanted to lose them _right then and there,_ and I got a bit, uh, _excited,"_ He looked down, blushing furiously. "If you get my meaning…" he mumbled, his voice trailing off. "So my heart started to race a bit…"

For a horrifically uncomfortable moment, there was no response. Liam refused to look up, and instead concentrated on staring at the ground and wishing there was some supernatural creature that could detect severe embarrassment and come out of the ground to put that person out of their misery. Then, unexpectedly, he felt two arms encircle his waist, and he raised his head to see Hayden looking into his eyes. She had tears glistening on her cheeks but did not look angry anymore – now she only looked very, very upset.

"I'm so sorry," she wailed. Liam quickly put his arms around her; relieved they might be on the same page again. "I'm so sorry," she repeated. "I thought you were lying – and – and I overreacted – and – oh my god, you were tied to that pole _all night_ – I'm so sorry, Liam – I didn't know, uh, _that_ happens to guys when – uh –" Both Liam and Hayden flushed again, and Liam decided it was time to interject.

"Hay, honestly, it's fine," he reassured. "I wasn't hurt or anything. A little confused, though, maybe a bit embarrassed, but it seems kind of funny now." He gave a little smile to reiterate this.

"But maybe next time you're upset at me, we can just talk about it, okay?" She gave a weak chuckle, and Liam took this as motivation to continue. "Look, we just need to work on communication a bit more, I think. But I don't mind. I want to work on it with you." He raised his hand to touch her cheek, stroking it lightly with one thumb. She leaned in to his hand.

"I'm sorry I overreacted," she whispered. Liam shook his head, smiling slightly.

"Hayden, I love you. I don't think you're overreacting, I think you're passionate. And that is one of the many things I love about you."

She smiled, a genuine smile for the first time that day. "And I love you, too," she replied. "And how easily you forgive."

Liam shrugged, gently grabbing her hand and interlocking them the way he loved. Their hands fit so perfectly together. They began to walk away from the gym. "Hey, you're the one that mellowed me," he said cheerfully, feeling truly relaxed for the first time that day. "I was such an vengeful asshole before I met you."

Hayden laughed, and the pair lapsed into an easy silence as they began to walk towards the front of the school. Where they were going, they didn't know; they were simply enjoying each other's company. As they reached the front of the school, however, they were jolted out of their silence by the shrill ring of the school bell. People began to stream out of doors on either side of them, and Liam became acutely aware that he was only wearing boxers with a jacket over the top. Sure, it was a long jacket – it went mid-thigh, and he had it zipped up to his chest – but it definitely looked like he wasn't wearing anything underneath. Moreover, many people had seen him this morning, tied to the flagpole, so they _knew_ how naked he was underneath. Quickly, he turned to Hayden, intending on asking her if she wanted to leave before more people began pointing and staring – or worse still, a teacher saw him and forced him to _stay_ here. He was distracted, however, by a group of voices down the hallway, which he could hear as clearly as if they were standing beside him.

"Hey, Liam."

Liam looked up to see the whole pack together at the far end of the hallway. It was Scott who had spoken, whispering quietly to himself to reach Liam's ears. Liam looked at the other members of the pack, and was slightly surprised to see them all grinning so widely. In fact, Stiles looked like he was laughing – Malia, too. Were they that happy to see that Hayden and he had worked it out? Scott's voice reached his ears again.

"Sorry," he said, an apologetic smile on his face. "I couldn't stop them from listening."

Liam felt the blood drain from his face. They had listened to the whole conversation, relayed it to the rest of the pack who couldn't hear. They knew he was a virgin. They knew Hayden and he were talking about having sex. _Oh my god,_ they knew he had _got a boner_ in front of her. For a moment he entertained the idea of going over there and beating everyone to death – if only for their silence – but took a few deep breaths and calmed himself down. Hayden, luckily, saved him from wallowing in self-pitying thoughts.

"Hey," she said, touching his arm lightly. "Do you wanna get out of here? The pack are embarrassing me."

Liam smiled with relief. "Yes," he said. "You read my mind."

Turning to leave, he flipped the finger to the pack for the second time that day. He was rewarded with howls of laughter echoing down the hall, but he decided dealing with their teasing was tomorrow's problem. Hayden leant on his shoulder, a repeat of the night before. As they walked down the steps and out into the fresh air, Liam heard Stiles lightly whisper, "Don't forget to use protection!" But instead of feeling irritated again, he simply laughed. He had his girl at his side, his mate, and he found he didn't care when things happened with her or who knew about it. They were together, and that was all that mattered.

He certainly did hope to find some pants soon, though.

 **-/-**

 **Thanks for reading! Please review or favourite if you liked it!**

 **~Mandrews2.0**


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